MAN IN THE NEWS: Donald Jesse Atwood; Manager for Pentagon

By DORON P. LEVIN, Special to the New York Times

Published: January 26, 1989

DETROIT, Jan. 25—
Donald J. Atwood, a General Motors executive named today to the No. 2 job in the Defense Department, is a seasoned manager whose biggest task may be to run the department's daily operations while contending with a tighter budget.

As G.M.'s vice chairman in charge of military, electronics and data processing, Mr. Atwood has won a reputation among his peers as a steady, low-key executive with a deep knowledge of scientific and engineering issues. He has also amassed a storehouse of experience in Government procurement.

Mr. Atwood's management and scientific skills are meant to complement those of the Defense Secretary-designate, John G. Tower, who is expected to play chiefly a political and policy-setting role. 'One of the Smartest'

As Mr. Atwood contends with the budget and slowdowns that are forecast by many people in Congress, he should bring much practical experience from G.M., which has spent the past few years rethinking its assumptions and revising operations after losing some of its share of the market to Japanese auto makers.

''He helped lead the efforts to get our components groups competitive, in a patient, direct way,'' said a G.M. manager. ''He was very thoughtful dealing with people, while still driving the process forward.''

''I've dealt with thousands of businessmen,'' said Robert Scully, a partner in the investment banking conern of Scully Brothers and Foss. ''Don Atwood clearly is one of the smartest and most able.''

Mr. Atwood will inherit a cumbersome and problem-ridden procurement system that has recently come under scrutiny in an investigation of bribery by military contractors and the sale of bidding information by Pentagon officials. The first indictments in the affair have been handed up, but the scope of the scandal is still unclear.

While under Mr. Atwood's direct supervision, G.M.'s Hughes Aircraft, one of the nation's biggest military contractors, was hit last year with a scandal of its own. The chairman of Hughes, Albert D. Wheelon, resigned after a grand jury investigation into allegations of bribery in connection with an Intelsat satellite contract. No one has been charged in the investigation and Mr. Atwood has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Because Hughes is continuously involved in a variety of Defense Department contracts (it is the biggest supplier of electronics to the military but it does not build aircraft), Mr. Atwood may expect to face questioning in the confirmation process about whether he will disqualify himself from matters involving Hughes.

Donald Jesse Atwood was born on May 25, 1924, in Haverhill, Mass. He earned a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he specialized in the infant technology of inertial guidance systems. He joined G.M. in 1959 after working in a private business venture focused on the development of these systems, which became an advanced form of navigation, Knowlege About Systems General Motors was attracted to Mr. Atwood's knowledge in that field. He worked on the company proposal that won for the auto maker the guidance and navigation contract for the Apollo space missions.

After working in several research, engineering and management jobs in what is now G.M.'s Delco Electronics Division, he was named general manager of the Indianapolis operations of G.M.'s Detroit Diesel Allison Division, which makes engines, turbines and transmissions.

By 1981, after having become a G.M. vice president and group executive, Mr. Atwood was given responsibility for running G.M.'s mammoth worldwide Truck and Bus Group. He became an executive vice president and G.M. director in early 1984, and within two years was given supervision of the company's two huge acquisitions: the $2.55-billion purchase of the Electronic Data Systems Corporation and the $5.2-billion purchase of the Hughes Aircraft Company. Record at G.M. Although Mr. Atwood's record at G.M. might otherwise have qualified him for an opportunity to run the entire company, which is the world's largest corporation, his 65th birthday and mandatory retirement date this May falls more than a year earlier than that of Roger B. Smith, G.M.'s chairman and chief executive.

Mr. Atwood follows in the tradition of several G.M. executives over the years who have become top Defense Department officials. The most notable was Charles Wilson, who left the presidency of G.M. to become Secretary of Defense in 1953. Robert Costello, currently the department's highest-ranking procurement specialist, was a G.M. director of materials purchasing.

Mr. Atwood and his wife, Sue, live in Franklin, Mich., and have a son and a daughter.